Eureka! Institutional Repository

Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 is a chronic disease most common in children and adolescents so that management is a complex factor. Teenagers are trained to be autonomous. The presence of the family, especially parents, plays an important role both in the metabolic control of the disease and in the psychology of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of adolescents in order to support families in the management of T1D. For this reason, the Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire-Family Version (DSSQ-Family) was used. It has 58 questions and it was distributed to 56 adolescents aged 10-18 years. Additionally, some demographic and clinical characteristics were used. The questionnaire is divided into the following scales: insulin injections, blood testing, diet plan, exercise and teenage encouragment to take care of Τ1D. The statistical analysis assessed the reliability of the scales using the coefficient Alpha of Cronbach and correlation of questionnaire scales was made according to the age of diagnosis of diabetes, HbA1c, family members, the amount of teens, weight, BMI, the insulin units and blood glucose measurements. Furthermore, tests of Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis were used. Specifically, the statistical analysis has indicated that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between height and emotion for using insulin injections. Moreover, there is negative correlation between weight and feeling of insulin injections and blood glucose measurements and emotion about the meal plan. The majority of younger teenagers feel more supported by their families compared to older adolescents. In conclusion, the presence of parents is very important as it enhances the psychology of adolescents resulting to the normal course of the disease. Perhaps the results of this research may be useful to health professionals who are helpers both to education and management of the disease and they are the intermediaries to the route of independence and the transition to adulthood.